


teenage satellites

by folkinaround



Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M, high school au ok!!, one (1) mention of seungyoon for my own projection, this isn't angst i swear on my life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 17:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16560383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/folkinaround/pseuds/folkinaround
Summary: Jaebum’s chest feels tight at the mere reminder that Jinyoung’s always been destined for greater things.





	teenage satellites

**Author's Note:**

> in which jy inspires the best in beom always always always 

They’re eighteen, and they go to the computer cafe close to where Jinyoung attends cram-school far too often for tired second year students whose entire futures need to be decided in the next few months on top of final exams, career counselling and college applications.

“I’ll go into professional gaming,” is Jaebum’s proposed solution, absorbed enough in his game of League to not see when Jinyoung rolls his eyes at this.

“Your mum told me over her dead body,” Jinyoung reminds, his own computer open on a YouTube playlist of Sunmi’s music videos. He always quits playing sooner than Jaebum, but stays long enough for Jaebum to quit too and walk with him to the nearby 7-eleven for instant noodles and flavoured drinks that Jaebum inevitably has to crack his wallet open for.

“Seriously though,” Jinyoung’s mouth is stained red at the corners from the sticky flavouring left over from his finished paper bowl of noodles. It’s 11PM on a school night and they’re still sitting outside a 7-eleven with no intentions on going home any time soon. “Career counselling starts next month.”

“Oh, I know,” Jaebum tells him, rummaging through Jinyoung’s school-bag for the packet of wet tissues he knows Jinyoung keeps in there. He ends up finding them stuffed at the bottom of one of the side pockets, unintentionally hidden by a pair of misplaced clean socks. “Here,” Jaebum peels off a square of tissue that Jinyoung takes without hesitation. “Also, I found your socks.”

“You’re avoiding my question,” Jinyoung juts his lower lip out into a pout that quickly disappears as he wipes his mouth clean with the wet wipe. The skin there almost glistens underneath the storefront light as he folds the tissue neatly and places it inside the finished instant noodle bowl. Jaebum doesn’t let himself look at Jinyoung’s lips for too long.

“You didn’t ask me a question,” he points out.

“What are you going to say when ssaem asks what job you see yourself doing?” Jinyoung sighs, mildly irritated like he always is when Jaebum stalls like this, even though there’re only two things in the world that Jaebum doesn’t like talking about with Jinyoung, the first thing being about their future, obviously, because Jaebum hasn’t thought that far ahead yet and it scares him to even think that their futures are two separate things instead of one combined path like in his head, that one day he might not be able to sit with Jinyoung like this outside a 7-eleven and have Jinyoung whine at him with ramyeon flavouring all over his mouth, that maybe they won’t always be best friends like they have been since middle school and of course the second thing is exactly that.

He likes Jinyoung too much — more than what’s considered normal for best friends and _way_ more than what Jaebum himself is willing to admit.

And he stares at Jinyoung for a long while after that hoping that Jinyoung will break first and change the subject if Jaebum just doesn’t answer him.

But, of course, Jaebum knows Jinyoung, knows that he gets stubborn when he feels like he can’t get into Jaebum’s head, and he knows himself, that it’s impossible for him to hold out against giving Jinyoung what he wants when he wants and if he ever asks for it.

“I want,” Jaebum starts, and then stops.

Jinyoung is looking at him and there’re bags under his eyes. Jaebum secretly finds it adorable, but Jinyoung himself frets over them and steals his noonas’ beauty products to attack and expel. It’s a nasty consequence of somebody who studies as crazily as Jinyoung, though no one would expect anything less of a scholarship kid who’s aiming for Hanyang and above.

Jaebum’s chest feels tight at that mere reminder that Jinyoung’s always been destined for greater things.

“You want?” Jinyoung presses.

It’s been a couple of hours since school let out, but his top button is still done up and his tie sits unloosened at his throat, unlike Jaebum, whose own tie is already sitting stuffed hastily at the bottom of his school-bag and conveniently forgotten about, shirt untucked and the complete opposite of Jinyoung in what feels like every aspect.  

“I want to go to Hanyang,” he says truthfully, and then plays it off as a joke so that it doesn’t hurt as much when Jinyoung does too.

Jinyoung's eyes widen with genuine surprise at first, but only for a split second before he’s smiling and it’s bittersweet, Jaebum thinks, because he’s never been more honest in his life.

God knows why he decided to paint himself out to be the kid who didn’t care until everybody, even Jinyoung, started to take him seriously about not wanting to study well.

He realises it’s probably his own fault for damning himself when Jinyoung starts to laugh and tells him that he hates when Jaebum teases but that he’ll get him to talk about what he _really_ wants to do after career counselling next month, and Jaebum just laughs back and offers to walk Jinyoung home because anything would be better than thinking about a future where his life wasn’t one with Jinyoung’s.

 

They don’t end up in the same form class for high school, so Jaebum makes it a habit to swing by Jinyoung’s classroom on the third floor of another building whenever he wants to bother him during break times, which. He always wants to do.

Except today, apparently, because he doesn’t even notice when their teacher dismisses them for break until ten minutes later when somebody throws some bread onto his desk and he looks up to see Jinyoung with his head tilted curiously and his eyes on Jaebum’s physics book.

“You didn't come by,” he says. He doesn’t sound accusatory, just confused. “It’s break-time.”

“I didn’t notice,” Jaebum admits, dropping his pen and tearing open plastic to bite into the bread that Jinyoung must have bought from the convenience store on the way to school. “Why’d you buy such cheap bread?”

“Shut up,” Jinyoung reaches out as if to smack Jaebum, but doesn’t actually do it. “This was the expensive kind. Are you doing maths?”

“Physics,” Jaebum looks down at his exercise book. His desk-mate, Seungyoon, had left some helpful notes in the margins beside problems that Jaebum couldn’t quite wrap his head around the first time he tried them. He’s pretty great at maths, but physics is a little harder.

Jinyoung looks completely bewildered by that. “Why?” he asks.

“I’m studying,” Jaebum replies. He knows why Jinyoung is confused, but pretends not to.

“Okay,” Jinyoung says, after a moment where neither of them speak and it’s just Jaebum chewing around a mouthful of bread. “Okay, whatever. That’s good. D’you need any help?”

“It’s okay,” Jaebum says, closing his exercise book and pulling Seungyoon’s chair out beside him. He pats the plastic seat, offering a smile when Jinyoung gives him a suspicious look. “Come on,” he teases. “You said you’d watch at least one episode of that web-drama I told you about last night.”

“You’re such a loser,” Jinyoung scoffs, but there’s no real bite behind his words.

He sinks into the chair beside Jaebum without further protest and shuffles in close so that they can share one side of Jaebum’s earphones each.

 

Jaebum doesn’t fail this time to go by Jinyoung’s classroom after school when the final bell rings and their teacher fits in one last reminder for them to study well over the weekend for their upcoming mock exams.

“Hey you,” Jinyoung is all smiles when Jaebum goes to pick him up so that they can walk to Jinyoung’s cram-school together. “I finish at nine-thirty today. PC bang after?”

“Can’t,” Jaebum says simply, trying not to laugh when Jinyoung quite literally chokes on his spit and frowns like he does whenever Jaebum tells him no.

“Why not?” he demands.

Jaebum readjusts his bag straps and looks ahead at the school gates. “I’ve gotta study,” he says, unable to hide it now when he starts to smile with Jinyoung looking at him like he’d just said the most unbelievable thing in the world. He doesn’t feel hurt anymore by the incredulity, just happy that he’s decided to make a change.

“Study?” Jinyoung echoes, seemingly lost for words and nearly tripping over his own feet. “You’re studying now? Is that what today at break was about?”

“Duh,” Jaebum teases, so easy when he slings an arm around Jinyoung’s shoulders to pull him in close even as they walk. “Is that really so difficult to comprehend, kid? I’ve gotta get into Hanyang somehow, right?”

Jinyoung eyes are wide and crinkling at the corners when he registers what Jaebum is insinuating. “Hanyang?” he repeats.

“Yup,” Jaebum grins. He’d feel cheesy if he wasn’t so happy that Jinyoung was smiling at him like he’d hung the stars in the sky. “Why?” he feigns innocence, letting his arm drop from around Jinyoung but still walking so close that their shoulders brush with every step. “You thinking of going to Hanyang, too?”

Jinyoung doesn’t answer immediately, but he slips his hand into Jaebum’s and squeezes once before letting go just as quickly so that Jaebum isn’t even sure if it happened.

“Maybe,” he says, looking purposefully away though Jaebum still spots the tinge of red spotting across his cheeks. “Maybe I am.”    

**Author's Note:**

> unbetad but comments always the MOST appreciated ~ yugbammr on twt heh 


End file.
